Selium McGary (1831-1910)/documents
}} Vital Records Census File:US1850-OH-Erie-Berlin-7(McGary).jpg|1850 US Census, Berlin, Ohio. With parents Thomas and Lovina, and 6 younger siblings File:US1860-WI-Monroe-Ridgeville-3(McGary).jpg|1860 US Census, Ridgeville, Wisconsin. With wife Elvira and children Frances, Eugene, Isabel, and Josephine. File:US1870-WI-Monroe-Ridgeville-12.jpg|1870 US Census, Ridgeville, Wisconsin. With wife Elvira and children Frances, Eugene, Isabel, Lenora, and Josephine; parents Thomas and Lovina living next door. File:US1880-WI-Monroe-Ridgeville35-21.jpg|1880 US Census, Ridgeville, Wisconsin. With wife Elvira and children Isabel, Lenora, Josephine and Jessie. File:US1900-WI-Monroe-Norwalk106-6.jpg|1900 US Census, Norwalk, Wisconsin. With wife Elvira. File:Wisconsin1905-Monroe-Norwalk-5.jpg|1905 Wisconsin Census, Norwalk, Wisconsin. With wife Elvira. File:US1910-WI-Monroe-Norwalk138-17.jpg|1910 US Census, Norwalk, Wisconsin. With son Eugene and Eugene's family. . Newspaper Articles ''The Norwalk Star (Norwalk, WI) BIOGRAPHY of Selium McGary, Deceased :Friday, July 22, 1910. P. 4. Mr. Selium McGary, one of the earliest settlers of Monroe, Co., Wis., was born in Wilton, Vermont, May 13, 1831, and died at Norwalk, Wis., July 17, 1910, aged 79 years, 2 months, 4 days. When deceased was about 7 years old his father moved to Medina county, O., and later to Alleghena City, Pa., but soon after made his permanent home in Erie Co., Ohio. In September, 1852, deceased came with his grandparents, Ira Huntly and wife, to Monroe Co., Wis., bringing with him the bride of his youth, Elvira Fox. For more than half a century this happy, industrious couple lived and labored together in the village of Norwalk, which was named by Mr. McGary after a village he lived in, in the state of Ohio. Their labors were crowned with fair success. They reared a family of six children—Frances, now Mrs. Reckard sic of Denver, Colorado; Eugene, holding the old homestead; Isabel, now Mrs. Wood, and Lenora, now Mrs. Kier of Baraboo; Josephine, now Mrs. Kendall of Chicago, Ill., and Jessie, now Mrs. Bohn of Elroy. All were present at the funeral except Mrs. Wood, who is in the West. Since the departure of Mrs. McGary, about two years ago, Mr. McGary felt his great bereavement and began to fail rapidly. Besides the 5 daughters and one son and grandchildren, he is survived by two sisters. Mr. McGary was also a soldier in the Civil war, having enlisted in Company A, 52 Regiment Wisconsin, Volunteer Infantry, serving about 14 months. His funeral took place July 20. Many friends turned out to show their due respect to the deceased and his loved ones. May God abundantly bless all the dear relatives.! :::Transcribed by Bruce Kendall, September 3, 2005 Biography Selium McGARY :''Biographical History of La Crosse, Monroe and Juneau Counties, Wisconsin. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company. 1892. Pg. 746-747. SELIUM McGARY, one of the representative citizens of Monroe county, was born in Chittenden county, Vermont, May 13, 1831, a son of Thomas McGary, a native of county Down, Ireland. The latter's father died when his son Thomas was but a lad, and the latter afterward emigrated with his mother to the United States, coming via Quebec to Vermont, and becoming residents of that State. Thomas McGary grew to manhood in Vermont, and married Lovina Huntley, a native of that State, and a daughter of Ira Huntley, who belonged to an early family of that State. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, fought at Plattsburg, and also took part in other events attending the second war with England. Thomas McGary continued to live in Vermont a number of years after his marriage, but when the subject of this sketch was about seven years of age they emigrated to Medina county, Ohio, and soon afterwards removed to Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. They afterward returned to Ohio, and made a permanent settlement in Erie county. In the fall of 1853 they followed the son and brother to Wisconsin, and resided on the farm of the former until their death, the father passing away in 1878, and the mother in 1881, aged seventy-five and seventy-one years, respectively. They were the parents of the following children: Selium, our subject; Mary Ann, a resident of Onalaska, La Crosse county; Sally, of Seattle, Washington; Eliza, of Dunn county, Wisconsin; Thomas, the next in order of birth, was a member of the Nineteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in the war of the Rebellion, and was killed at the battle of Fair Oaks, October 27, 1864; Henry, a resident of Norwalk, was also a soldier in the late war, first as a member of the Nineteenth Wisconsin Infantry, and later entered the Third Wisconsin Cavalry; Nancy, the youngest of the family, resides in Nebraska. In September, 1852, Selium McGary came with his grandparents, Ira Huntley, and wife, to Monroe County, the latter settling in Lewis valley, Lacrosse county, where he became a well-known citizen, and where he resided until death. Our subject selected the place where he now lives, having resided there for the long period of forty years, and has witnessed and been identified with the growth and development of the country during those many years. Since he came to Monroe county, having been the first or second settler of the Ridgeville township, it has grown from a wilderness to beautiful farms and pleasant homes, and a portion of the village of Norwalk is on his original farm. He gave the place its name from the beautiful little city of Norwalk, Ohio, near which he lived for many years. Mr. McGary was a soldier in the war for the Union, having enlisted in Company A, Fifty-second Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in 1864, and served until the close of the struggle. He served principally in Missouri and Kansas, engaged in guerrilla warfare. His farm now contains 345 acres of good land, and he has obtained his entire worldly possessions by his own efforts. Mr. McGary was married in Ohio, at the age of twenty years, to Alvira Fox, a daughter of Charles Fox. The family were originally from Connecticut, and later of Pennsylvania, from which State they emigrated to Ohio in the early pioneer days. They endured the dangers and hardships incident to the Indian wars then prevailing on the frontier. Mr. and Mrs. McGary have six children, viz.: Frances, wife of Norman Record; Eugene, the only son, has charge of the home farm; Isabel, wife of George Wood, of Kendall; Lenora, wife of John Keier, of the same place; Josephine, wife of William B. Kendall, of Baraboo; Jessie, the youngest, is at home. In his political relations, our subject is a Democrat, having cast his first Presidential vote for Franklin Pierce, in 1852, and except in 1864, when it was deemed perilous to change the administration, the country being in the throes of the Civil war, he has continued to vote the Democratic ticket. He has never been an aspirant for office, but has accepted most of the local offices of his town. Is liberal and progressive in his religious views, and is ever prominent in advancing the social and material interests of the community in which he lives. :::Transcribed by Bruce Kendall Biography – Eugene McGary :History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, Past and Present; Including an account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County. Randolph A. Richards, editor in chief. C.F. Cooper & Co. (1912: Chicago). Pp. 799-801. Eugene McGary, president of the village of Norwalk, and lifelong resident of Monroe county, was born in Ridgeville township, October 17, 1854, and is one of a family of six children born to Seluim sic1 and Elvira (Fox) McGary. Of their other children, Frances married Norman Record, of Sparta, Wis.; Isabelle is the wife of George Wood, of Baraboo, Wis.; Nora is the wife of John Kier, also resides at Baraboo; Josephine is the wife of W. B. Kendalls sic2, and lives in Chicago, Ill., and Jessie is Mrs. B. L. Bond sic3, of Elroy, Wis. Seluim McGary was the son of Thomas McGary, a native of Ireland, who came to Ohio in an early day and spent the remainder of his life; his son, Seluim, was born here. Seluim, with his wife, were among the early pioneers of Wisconsin, having settled in Oil City, in Monroe county, in the early forties, where he secured employment by the month in the lumber mill of the late Esau Johnson. After one year thus spent, he took up a Government claim of 160 acres of land in section twenty-eight, Ridgeville township, near where the village of Norwalk is now located and where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred July 17, 1910, in his eightieth year. The death of his wife, mother of our subject, occurred February 4, 1908, at the age of seventy-five years. He was of that numerous class of sturdy men who were instrumental in bringing about the wonderful changes that have been wrought in transforming that part of Monroe county, Wisconsin, from a state of comparative wilderness to its present fruitful and fertile condition, as one of the garden spots of the state. Through his industry the farm was brought to a high state of cultivation, and with the fine improvements he made, was one of the model farms of the county. He was an influential man in the community, a man of intelligence who was in sympathy with, and ready to lend a helping hand in every worthy enterprise intended for the betterment of the community. During his active life he held several local offices, and when the village of Norwalk was incorporated he became its first president. The business life of Mr. McGary furnished a notable example of what may be accomplished by energy and resolution, when guided by honorable principles and aided by agreeable personal characteristics; he was in truth a successful business man, and his actions in all his transactions were marked by scrupulously fair dealing, frankness and kindness and faith in the better side of human nature. Of his two brothers, Thomas was a soldier in the Civil War, and was killed at the battle of Bull Run, and Henry died in 1898. Eugene McGary was raised on his father’s farm, and obtained his education in the public schools while assisting in the farm work. He has resided on the homestead all his life, and when his father became incapacitated and inactive he assumed full management, and at the death of his father inherited the farm. He carries on general farming and does considerable dairying, in which he is generally successful, and with his modern residence, which he erected in 1910, overlooking the village of Norwalk, commodious barns and outbuildings, his is one of the most comfortable homes of the county. He takes a commendable interest in all public matters and has served as president of the village of Norwalk in all ten years; his last term of service extending continuously over a period of seven years. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodsman of America. As a man, Mr. McGary is well thought of in the community; has always shown himself capable and trustworthy in any place his has been called to fill, and no man enjoys more public confidence and esteem. On March 4, 1877, Mr. McGary was united in marriage with Miss Lydia Sour, daughter of David Sour, one of the prominent and successful citizens of Cole’s valley, Monroe county. They have and interesting family of five children, viz.: Mabel, Anna, Harold, Lester and Clayton McGary. :::Transcribed by Bruce Kendall, August 23, 2005. 1 Transcriber’s note: should be Selium. 2 Transcriber’s note: should be Kendall. 3 Transcriber’s note: should be Bohn. Military Records Category:People documentation pages